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A new Quinnipiac University issues poll finds only 35 percent of state voters want to legalize marijuana for personal use, while 44 percent are game with legalizing it for medical use only and 19 percent say marijuana should not be legal.

And if personal use of marijuana were legal, 62 percent of voters say they definitely would not use it. (The poll did not, however ask how many respondents had ever attended a Pink Floyd laser show.)

From the release:

There are wide gender and age gaps on personal marijuana use, with 43 percent of men and 27 percent of women in favor. Support for personal use is 43 percent among voters 18 to 34 years old, 40 percent among voters 35 to 54 years old and 29 percent among voters over 55 years old.

Support is 21 percent among Republicans, 37 percent among Democrats and 39 percent among independent voters.

Support for medicinal use only, now legal in New York State, is 34 percent among men, 53 percent among women, 46 percent each among Republicans and Democrats and 43 percent among independent voters.

“Almost all New Yorkers favor the use of medical marijuana, but many voters want to stop there. Just under a fifth would ban it completely and 44 percent say medical marijuana only,” said Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

“How about their own preferences? Almost two-thirds of New Yorkers say they would definitely decline to puff the stuff themselves and only 4 percent say they definitely would inhale.”

Past marijuana use apparently is a small issue in the New York governor’s race as 4 percent of voters say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who has used marijuana in the past, while 17 percent say they would be less likely to vote for the candidate and 77 percent say past marijuana use would not affect their vote.

The same poll finds opposition to hydrofracking “inching up to new highs” — someone clearly still had weed in mind — with 48 percent of voters opposed because of environmental concerns while 43 percent support drilling because of economic benefits.

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This compares to a 44 – 45 percent split on drilling in a May 22 Quinnipiac University poll and the highest level of opposition previously measured, with 46 percent opposed and 39 percent supporting drilling, March 20, 2013.

In today’s survey, upstate voters support drilling by a narrow 48 – 43 percent margin. New York City voters are opposed 55 – 35 percent and suburban voters are divided, with 47 percent in favor and 45 percent opposed to drilling.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been dragging his feet, trying to avoid a decision on drilling, 41 percent of New York State voters say, while 20 percent say he has been carefully evaluating the issue.

“New York State voters remain closely divided on the issue of natural gas drilling – or fracking – but opinion has been shifting ever so slightly against it,” Carroll said.

“Voters say 2-1 that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is dragging his feet on making a decision.”

The poll was conducted Aug. 14-17; it surveyed 1,034 state voterson land lines and cell phones with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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Wrong! Check your facts. New Yorkers overwhelmingly support medical marijuana in every demographic, based on Quinnipiac polls in May and June. The majority also favors legalization for recreational purposes. Heck, polls show a majority of all Americans support legalization for recreational purposes. Fix this erroneous report!

NYC ands it’s suburbs need to butt the heck out. The Southern Tier is being held hostage by people that oppose hydrofracking, but will only be effected by lower gas prices. All of the phony rhetoric is the sheeple following the faux experts lead, without doing any research on their own. Our land and mineral rights have been stolen, by Kuomo and his minions, as wel as his puppet master RFK Jr. The moratorium is an ipso facto use of eminent domain, without any reasonable compensation, as defined by NYS laws. I can provide accurate information that will prove that the owners are being denied 6 digit monthly royalties, based on comparable formations in Pennsylvania. When you consider that there are 100,000+ owners effected by this thievery, I wonder if King Kash Kuomo could cover his nut to pay that tab, if we sue him under eminent domain?
Here is a letter to Kuomo from Cornell Prof. Lawrence M. Cathles,
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Read the letter, by a Cornell expert, who actually has been in the field, not just taking an unfounded position on the issue, like Ingaffea and Howarth. The President and Veep of Cornell, in a joint article, in Forbes magazine, said that hydrofracking can be done safely, with proper regulation and monitoring. There are study after study on all aspects of hydrofracking by many of the most prestigious colleges and universities, in the U.SA., and elsewhere, that reach the same conclusion. Included are several of California’s most environmentally conscious institutions. What studies have Quinnipac done? NONE. All they seem to publish is biased polls, designed to reach their desired and intended results. It is time to deal in the true science and facts, with regard to hydrofracking, and not the Kuomo “science and facts”, and those of the attention seekers. I would like to see a poll of true experts on the subject matters that encompass hydrofracking, at the major colleges and universities, and see what their conclusions are, just to shut the morons up. I have read many of the studies, from those institutions, and they all belie the claims of the pseudo-environmentalist.

Helen, you misread the article and if you saw it the report. It seems that the report says that most New Yorkers would not use pot. It does not refer to medical marijuana. But that was a heck of a try though.

Oh, it all comes down to cash. money. as in taxes. So just wait until the numbers come in from Colorado and the millions of dollars going into state coffers that they never had before. Other states will wake up.

As to WEBIII, could you please list the legal intoxicants other than alcohol and tobacco. Just wanted to be sure I know them all.

@Craig Scott: On the other side of the coin, I saw a report that it has caused an influx of homeless people who participate. They also participate in living off the taxpayers dollars, according to the report. So it may be a wash, as far as tax money. It may also bring an influx of those who participate and are self-reliant, but that will cause a rise in the demand for services as well, just a different type, like schools, etc.
Here is a Denver Post article.
>http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26216037/legal-pot-blamed-some-influx-homeless-this-summer

Helen the article STRESSES that the MAJORITY of those polled do not favor the use of pot for recreational purposes. The reference to medical pot is NOT the thrust of the article? You DO I hope understand that?

Craig Scott, how about all those legal drugs which are abused by the local talent? Do you even understand the problem of driving under the influence? Or don’t you care?
Bars selling alcohol are supposed to cut off a customer who is apparently intoxicated. Unless the patron is unruly have you ever truthfully seen it happen?
How about all the people who are alcoholics? And you want to add marijuana? What’s next? Heroin?

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has no lethal dose. The fact that one citizen may drink themselves to oblivion while another citizen may not legally unwind after work with a couple of hits on a vaporizer points to another inequity in our society. The marijuana prohibition became law through racist propaganda and a collusion of special interests and elected officials. It’s time for action on the federal level to repeal the cannabis prohibition.

Our state’s farmers could earn income year after year by planting cannabis for all it’s uses. Food, fuel, fiber, medicine and recreation can all be obtained through this flowering herb of the field that has been provided to us by the creator.

Helen, that would be your OPINION? I happen ti know it is a significant problem. In Oneida County alone there at least 2 or more arrests DUI-Marijuana each week. Make it legal, and those numbers will quadruple.
Oh, for your info, I am a retired law enforcement officer. 6 yrs as a police officer and 24 as a Corrections Sergeant. Many of my friends are current police officers.

Hempopotamus, There is a lethal dose for THC but it is very very high. However does that mean that it would be better to drive under the influence of marijuana than alcohol? I don’t think so. Do you?
And yeah, it is the “entry drug.” I have never met a heroine or cocaine addict of any other drug addict that did not start with marijuana.

Hempopotamus, all of this is o course possible, but we already have enough intoxicants on the market that are legal without adding cannabis sativa. I am sure you are in the forefront of those who want to make it legal so you can get high. But be advised there are a lot of us against it.

WEB III, where is the evidence of a lethal overdose of marijuana? I did not raise the comparison of driving on either substance. There is a fundamental inequality in our society when one person’s recreational intoxicant (alcohol) is no longer subject to an equally unfounded prohibition but another otherwise law-abiding citizen is legally prohibited from consuming their intoxicant of choice (marijuana – a mere herb given to us by the creator to choose to use as we see fit as creatures with free will).

WEB III, marijuana cannot be specified as THE entry drug because there is very little research that can pinpoint the behavior that first led to a buzz or high. When children spin until they become too dizzy to stand, they are exhibiting the very human tendency to self-regulate and alter their reality. How many cocaine and heroin addicts ate lots of sugar or salt and felt different? How many sniffed inhalants before ever getting their hands on marijuana? I would hazard a guess that more of the addicts that you know started their smoking experience with tobacco rather than marijuana. Just because people with serious substance abuse issues may have used marijuana and passed on to more harmful man-made substances does not legitimize an ill-founded and illogical prohibition on a plant. The plant is very useful for more than medicine and recreation. Part of the special interests that fought for marijuana prohibition were cotton and timber interests who sought to remove a competing fiber from the market. Another special interest that fought for marijuana prohibition was law enforcement personnel who chose to vilify a substance in order to legalize harassment of that substance’s users.

I was wrong to equate the alcohol and marijuana prohibitions: cannabis has more useful purposes than alcohol. A great Republican president spoke wisely on prohibitions: “Prohibition… goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes… A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.”

Here’s an apples and oranges comparison for your consideration: does the government have a more legitimate concern in regulating a citizen’s behavior in their own home as to which herb a person consumes or how many bullets they store in their gun? Is the correct answer to either concern best left to public opinion?

Walter,
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Assuming what you say is ‘true’, how many alcohol related diving incidents in the same two week period?
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Just your OPINION I assume about there is already enough on the market, I disagree and firmly believe it should be grown and marketed in New York State.
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Have you ever met an opiate addict that didn’t drink?
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And, be advised there are many of us for it.

Woo, there are probably anywhere from 8 to ten a week in this county or more. IT seems that the DUI-D arrests make the press more than the DWI(Alcohol). Also you have to remember that marijuana is ILLEGAL and therefor not as accessible as is alcohol, which appreciably effects the numbers.
Yes, I have met heroine addict who did not drink. As a matter of fact, MOST addicts (controlled substances) do not use alcohol. Those who are “occasional” users do though.
I am sure there are a lot of people out there who favor making controlled substances. However they are sadly mistaken if they think that this will lower crime. In fact is will increase it.

Hempopotamus, that was a good try at the “privacy rights” ploy. The problem with drug abuse, it that these people tend to use controlled substances and then go out into the public where they are a danger to themselves and others as their ability to discern, right from wrong etc.
Bullets in a gun are inanimate object which do not make such decisions.
No, it is not best to leave this to “public opinion.”

Hempopotamus, Actually there is not much research on the matter but there is some which is rather dated and is at best suspect.
My personal experience is base on my experience as a police and corrections supervisor.
Would you agree that there is a BIG difference between the mind of a child as that of an adult? Your analogy of a child spinning is really non-applicable and at best an attempt at digression.
As to sniffing inhalants? There is no research on that matter, but most such abuse is done by CHILDREN, not adults.
May have progressed to the use of hard drugs? AGAIN, as you digressed away from my point, I will bring you back to it.
I have never met a user of hard controlled substances who did NOT start on marijuana. Now if you have any REAL counter argument, bring it on.

Hempopotamus, yes there is. If you Google it you will see that there is LDC for marijuana but it is a very very high dosage. Apparently, you are relying on SECOND HAND information from the pro maryjo crowd.
As to the differential between alcohol abusers and marijuana, again, one is legal while the other is not. There is a problem with BOTH. I do not differentiate between the two. To drive while intoxicated either by alcohol or drugs is illegal. Possession of an open container (alcohol) is ILLEGAL. Possession of a controlled substance is also illegal,be it in a car or anywhere.
Anyone who abuses alcohol or controlled substances whether maryjo or harder drugs is a danger to him/herself and others. Neither should be tolerated.
AGAIN, there is no legitimate reason to add to the list of legal substances to be abused. We have too many problems created by those that are legal to even consider adding to the list.

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